Control for aeroplanes



Oct. 13, 1925. 4} 1,557,531

R. E. MITTON CONTROL FOR AEROPLANES Original Filed Aug. 22, 1922 [IVVE/VTOR.

A TTORNE 1 Patented Oct. 13, 1925.

UNITED STATES 1,557,531 PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT ELVYN MITTON, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, ASSIGNOR TO THE MITTON- BRALEY AEROPLANE CONTROL COMPANY, OF SALT LAKE GITY, UTAH, A CORPORA- men OF UTAH.

CONTROL FOB AEROPLANES.

Application filed August 22, 1922, Serial No. 583,631. Renewed April 27, 1925.

T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT ELvYN MIT- TON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Salt Lake City, in the county of Salt Lake and State of Utah, have invented a new and useful Improvement in a Control for Aeroplanes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in controls for aeroplanes, and consists of the novel arrangement of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

' One object of this invention is to provide a control which will automatically maintain the lateral and longitudinal stability of the v aeroplane.

Another object of this invention is to provide a control which will instantly guide the aeroplane in any direction, in a modified manner, but when desirable will make any correction necessary to maintain the stability, unaided by the pilot.

Another object of this invention is to provide a control with which it would be difficult to place the airship far from its natural flying attitude, thus doing away with hazardous stunts.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specifications.

Figure 1 is a side view of an aeroplane showing my invention applied.

Fig. 2, is a front view of Fig. 1.

Similar letters and numerals refer to like parts throughout the views of the drawing.

A denotes the frame of the aeroplane, B the plane, C the right aileron, D the left aileron, E the elevator, F the rudder, G the brace by which the invention is secured to the frame A, H the pilots seat, R the right and L the left. The control wheel 1 is secured to the shaft 2. The shaft 2 is jour-' naled in bearings 5 which are secured to the brace Gr by bolts.

In the, shaft 2 is formed a crank 3. From the crank 3 is extended a ball and socket joint which is pivotally connected to the crank.

The pendulum 7 is supported by the swivel bearing 6. From the side of the swivel bearing 6 projects a shaft 8 which rests in and pass through hearings on the side of the frame A. 'On the ends of said shafts are located horns 8 to which are conneoted the wires 11 and that control the elevators.

The upper end of the pendulum slides w thtln the lower end of the ball and socket 10m Mounted on the shaft 2 are rings 12 to which is attached the rod 13. This rod being formed in a half circle passes through a slot 14 in the pendulum 7.

On the rings 12 is placed a staff 15 to which the wires'16 and 17 for controlling the ailerons are attached.

The wire 10 being attached to the bot tom horn and to the top king post of the elevators is the wire for raising the elevators. The wire 11 being attached to the top horn ,and'to the bottom king post of the ilevators is the wire for lowering the elevaors.

Wires 16 and 17 fastened to the rod 15 and running through pulleys 20 and 21 to the bottom king post of the ailerons and ,the balance wire 22 fastened to the top king post of the right aileron and running through pulleys 24 to the top king post of r the left aileron. These wires operate the a lerons when the control is moved to the right or left. The elevators are operated when the control is moved backward or forward.

Banking, turning, ascending and descending are accomplished in the followlng manner. Turning control wheel to the right moves pendulum tothe left by means of the crank throw 3 in the shaft 2 raises right aileron O and depresses left aileron D, thus causing aeroplane to bank or lean to the right. Turn control wheel 1 to the left moves pendulum to the right raises left aileron, depresses right aileron, thus causing the aeroplane to bank or lean to the left.

When the pendulum swings to the right i it moves rod 13 to the right, when pendulumrswings to the left it moves the rod 13 to the left. Inthese movements the elevators are not operated. The rod 13 passing through the slot 14 in the pendulum allows the pendulum to operate the rod 13 to the right or left and allows the pendulum to operate backward or forward without movin the rod 13.

o operate the elevators, pushing control wheel 1 ahead moves pendulum to the rear, 1

operates horns 8' in such a manner as to draw on the wire 11 to depress the elevator which raises the tail and causes the aeroplane to descend.

Pull control wheel backward moves pendulum to the front operates horns 8' in such a manner as to draw on wire 10 thus raising the elevators, depress the'tail and causing the aeroplane to climb or ascend.

The foregoing movements are those made by the pilots hand upon the control wheel to guide the aeroplane up or down or tip it to the right or left. The following describes the movements of the plane away from a level flying position and shows how the automatic corrections take place when the pendulum isleft in different relative positions.

It will be understood that the rudder operated by the feet by means of the rudder bar 61 is used in conjunction with any of the above movements which involve a turning movement about the vertical axis.

After the study of the drawings of the invention it will be readily seen that since it is possible to operate the pendulum as well as the controlling surfaces, whenever a movement is made by the hands with the control wheel, the pendulum can react these movements as far as the correction of any disturbance of the balance of the aeroplane is concerned. Thus if an upward current of air should unexpectedly raise the right wing out of level position it will be seen that the pendulum actuated by the force of gravity will not move with the ship but will remain straight downward. The ship tipping to the left would then automatically operate the hand wheel to the right, since that it is ob"i one that the pendulum would then be in a position to the left, and in so doing would operate the ailerons to return the ship to a level position, then all controls would be neutralized.

It is stated above that the ship turns its control wheel to the left under the aforesaid circumstances, this it does not really do, but, it accom lishespractically the same thing, because tlie'ship turns about the longitudinal axis of the machine leaving the control wheel and pendulum stationary, thereby operating the control more effectively and exactly than if the control wheel itself was moved to accomplish the same result. of the ailerons by means of the control wheel is fully explained in the paragraphs on operation. WVhen the ship tips to the right or opposite to the above all movements and corrections for same are exactly opposite or vice-versa to the above.

Having disposed of the lateral oscillations of an aeroplane in flight in this manner, we will now take the longitudinal disturbances. Thus if an upward current of air should strike the tail of the machine it The operation would throw the nose down orin a position to descend, which it would immediately do. In this case it will be seen that while the ship was tipping forward, it would leave the pendulum in exactly the same position it would be in if the wheel was pulled back when the ship was level, or in other words, it would be hanging forward, the wheel would be automatically thrown back, thus giving the proper correction, since this movement, as explained in the paragraph on operation raises the elevators depressing the tail to a level position, when all parts are neutralized because the pendulum is then in dead center.

If the ship should strike a current of air that would tip it backward or nose up, the

ally operate its control wheel to the right and backward, since it is obvious that the pendulum would then be in a position to the left and forward, and in so doing would operate its ailerons and elevators to return the ship to a level position. By the pendulum moving the control lever 2 backward and to the right, rocks rod 13 to the right and rocks elevator horns on the end of the shafts of the pivot bearing backward, thereby, raising elevators, depressing left aileron and raising right aileron and causing the tail to be depressed, the right wing to be depressed, and the left wing to be raised, thereby returning the ship to a level position. Then all parts are automatically neutralized because the pendulum would then be in dead center. v

If an upper current of air should simultaneously raise the left wing and tail out of a level position, the control working through the principles explained above, would automatically turn the wheel to the left and backward, thus depressing the right aileron and raising the left aileron and raising the elevators causing the ship to return to a level position.

If a current of air should simultaneously raise the right wing and depress the tail out of a level position, the control would automatically turn the wheel to the right and forward, thus depressing the left aileron and raising the right aileron and depressing the elevators causing the ship to return to a level position.

If a current of air should simultaneously raise the left wing and depress the tail out of a level position the control would automatically turn the wheel to the left and forward thus depressing the right aileron and raising the left aileron and depressing the elevators, and causing the ship to return to a level position.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a control of the character described, in combination a hand control wheel, a shaft secured to said hand control Wheel, said shaft having a crank therein, a ball and socket joint one end thereof secured to said crank the lower end within the upper end of the pendulum, the pendulum supported by a swivel bearing, the swivel bearing supported from the sides of the aeroplane, means on said control for operating the elevators and ailerons of the aeroplane.

2. In a control for aeroplanes of the character described in combination, a hand control Wheel, a shaft secured to said control wheel, a pendulum operated by said shaft,

' said shaft having a crank thereon, a ball and socket joint one end thereof secured to said crank the other end secured within the upper end of said pendulum, said pendulum supported by a swivel bearing secured within bearings supported by the sides of the aeroplane, said swivel bearing has shafts projecting therefrom and through said bearings the outer end thereof having horns secured thereto to Which are connected and attached thereto the control wires for the elevators.

3. In a control for aeroplanes of the character described comprising a hand Wheel, a shaft secured to said hand wheel, said shaft having a crank therein, a ball and socket joint secured to said crank, a pendulum supported by a swivel bearing, said swivel bearing having shafts projecting therefrom said shafts resting in bearings secured to the side of the aeroplane, horns secured to the outer ends of said shafts to which the Wires for the control of the ele vators are attached, rings mounted on said hand wheel shaft, a circular rod secured to said rings, said rod passing through a slot in said pendulum, rods projecting from said rings to which the Wires for the control of the ailerons are attached, means for securing said circular rod to said rings and means for securing the mechanism to the aeroplane.

4. In a control for aeroplanes of the character described, comprising a hand control Wheel, a control shaft secured to said hand control wheel having a crank formed therein,

a ball and socket joint secured to said crank, a pendulum for automatically operating said control shaft, said ball and socket .joint connecting said crank and said pendulum a swivel bearing for supporting'said pendulum, a circular rod passing through a slot in said pendulum the upper ends thereof supported by said control shaft, means on the upper end of said circular rod for operating the ailerons of the aeroplane, means for supporting said pendulum within the frame of the aeroplane and means secured to said swivel bearing for controlling the operation of the elevators.

5. In a control for aeroplanes of the character described, comprising, a hand control wheel. a control shaft secured to said control wheel having a crank formed therein, a ball and socket joint one end thereof being secured to said crank, a pendulum, the other end of said ball and socket joint connected to the upper end of said pendulum, said pendulum mounted in a swivel bearing, said swivel bearing having shafts projecting therefrom, said shafts resting in bearings secured to the side of the aeroplane frame, horns secured to said shafts and operated by said swivel bearing, said horns for attaching the wires thereto that control the operation of the elevators, means operated by said pendulum and supported by said control shaft for attaching the control wires that operate the ailerons and means for securing said control to the aeroplane.

6. In a control for aeroplanes of the character described, comprising, a hand control wheel mounted on a shaft, said shaft having a crank formed thereon, a pendulum for automatically operating said shaft, a ball and socket oint connecting said crank to said pendulum, means for securing said shaft to the casing of the aeroplane, means for supporting said pendulum, means con-' trolled by said pendulum for operating the elevators and ailerons, substantially as described.

In witness whereof I aliix my signature.

ROBERT ELVYN MITTON. 

